Petersfield, Hampshire
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| Petersfield | |
  Petersfield shown within Hampshire |
|
| Population | 13,303 (2001) [1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | East Hampshire |
| Shire county | Hampshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PETERSFIELD |
| Postcode district | GU31, GU32 |
| Dialling code | 01730 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | East Hampshire |
| List of places: UK • England • Hampshire | |
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, situated on the northern border of the South Downs. It is unique in that it is wholly within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, soon to be part of the proposed South Downs National Park.[2]
The town was founded at the end of the 11th century on the crossroads of well used north-south (today the A3 road) and east-west routes (today the A272 road) and it grew as a coach stop on the Portsmouth to London route.
The town station is on the mainline rail link between Portsmouth and London, via Guildford.
Petersfield is twinned with Barentin in France, and Warendorf in Germany.
The artist Flora Twort, the musician Sir William Henry Harris, the agriculturalist John Worlidge, the footballer George Best, The Day of the Triffids author John Wyndham, actor Alec Guinness and the Hambledon cricketer John Small all lived in Petersfield at some point. Small was a Petersfield cobbler in the late eighteenth-century, whose shop sign read:
Here lives John Small
Makes bat and ball
Pitch a wicket, play at cricket
With any man in England.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to contribute to the creation of the Petersfield Town Design Statementwhich will help improve future development in the town, and assist in improving town facilities for all age groups. This will be completed in 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Attractions
[edit] Museums
Petersfield boasts several museums, including the Flora Twort Gallery, based in her old studio, and the Petersfield Museum, which is concerned with the history of the town and is situated in the town's old Courthouse. Exhibitions are sometimes also held at The Festival Hall, St. Peter's Church, and The Physic Garden.
Petersfield was once home to the world's first Teddy Bear Museum, which opened in 1984. Sadly it closed at the end of 2006, and is now a residential address.
[edit] Markets
Petersfield's market square holds regular markets throughout the week, and there are also monthly Farmers' markets. On top of this, stallholders and farmers from Petersfield's French twin town Barentin visit Petersfield and hold a French market, selling items they sell on a typical French market.
The town's market square has a statue of King William III (of Orange) by Henry Cheere. The king is carved sitting astride his horse, and the statue is raised up on an engraved plinth. This is the only statue of William in a town square in the United Kingdom outside Northern Ireland and, as such, attracts bands of marching Orangemen in mid-July, anxious to commemorate William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne.
[edit] Churches
The town is named after the Anglican parish church, St Peter's, a Norman church in the town centre, The Square. Other churches include: The Methodist church - Station Road; The Catholic church, St Laurence's - Station Road; The United Reformed Church - College Street; The Evangelical fellowship which meets at the Herne Farm Leisure Centre on the eponymous estate; The Religious Society of Friends - Voluntary Centre, the High Street; The Salvation Army - Swan Street; Petersfield Christian Fellowship - meet at the Methodist Church.[3]
In the Catherine Tate Show episode featuring the drunk bride, the camera zooms out from an invitation referring to St Mark's Chapel, Petersfield: a completely fictional institution.
In the High Street is the Physic Garden, which is a recreation of a 17th century herb garden. It is open to the public nearly every day of the year.
[edit] Cinema and theatre
Petersfield's Festival Hall shows many plays and concerts during the year.
Petersfield Youth Theatre was formed in 1990 and performs annually at the Festival Hall as well as delivering projects throughout the year.
[edit] Pubs and bars
Petersfield offers a good range of public houses and bars to suit all tastes, 14 pubs in all, from historic coach stops to trendy modern bars and coffee houses.
Petersfield also had one nightclub, Vertigo. This building was once used as the Savoy cinema many years ago. As of 28/5/07, Vertigo nightclub was closed for good and sold to a developer to make way for a restaurant/bar with 14 flats above.
The King's Arms is the local youth club for the young people of the town as it is situated near the town centre
[edit] Sport
Petersfield has a wealth of clubs and teams for most sports. Several players have gone on to lead successful professional sporting careers, such as footballer Maik Taylor and the international prop Nick Todd.
There are various sports venues, such as the Taro Centre, a leisure centre containing swimming pools, squash courts, a gymnasium and other facilities. The town also has tennis courts (both public and members only), an open air pool, and many playing fields and local golf courses.
[edit] Teams
- Association Football - Petersfield Town F.C.
- Cricket - Petersfield Cricket Club and Colts Section
Petersfield Colts Petersfield Cricket Club have improved dramatically over the recent few years. An Under 15's and Under 17's were both created by Freddie Patten, while the U 9's U 11's and U 13's were boosted by Richard Evans and his daughter, Nikki. Tom Beltcher captains the U 17's, Tim Patten the U 15's, Christie Salmon the U 13's and Rory Newman the U 11's
- Hockey - Petersfield Hockey Club
- Rugby - Petersfield R.F.C
- Swimming -
- Running
- Squash - Petersfield Squash Club
- Tennis - Steep Lawn Tennis Club
- Archery - Bowmen of Petersfield
[edit] Government
The East Hampshire District Council offices are in Petersfield.
Petersfield is part of the parliamentary constituency of East Hampshire. Its Member of Parliament is Michael Mates, a member of the Conservative Party, though he is standing down at the next general election.
The County Councillors are Samantha Payne and Michael Cartwright.
EHDC has supported the formation of the South Downs National Park, which includes Petersfield.
[edit] Twinning
Petersfield is twinned with Barentin, France
and Warendorf, Germany
.[4]
[edit] Transport
Petersfield is located on the mainline rail link (the Portsmouth Direct Line) between Portsmouth and London. It is served by Petersfield railway station.
The main road (the A3) link between Portsmouth and London used to go through Petersfield, before the bypass was built round the north side of the town. Another major road, the A272, runs through Petersfield on its route between Winchester, Hampshire's County Town, and Heathfield, East Sussex.
[edit] Schools
[edit] State schools
The local state secondary school is The Petersfield School, usually referred to as 'TPS'. Primary schools in the area include Petersfield Infant School, Sheet Primary School and Herne Junior School. There are also a number of schools in the surrounding areas of Petersfield, which feed into the Petersfield secondary schools. These schools include Langrish Primary school, East Meon Primary School, West Meon Primary School, Steep Primary School and Buriton Primary School.
[edit] Public schools
The town and the surrounding villages are home to several renowned independent schools. Public school Churcher's College is located in Petersfield, and counts Tim Rodber and Tiny Rowland amongst its alumni. Ditcham Park School is situated just outside the town, and Bedales School is located in the neighbouring village of Steep. Former Bedales pupils include the Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day Lewis, actress Minnie Driver and pop singer Lily Allen.
Formerly, Morton House School was located in the town centre. In 1993 it was purchased by Churcher's College to become the Churcher's College Junior School, however, the school's success meant it soon outgrew these premises and has since relocated to Liphook.
[edit] Local media
Petersfield has two weekly newspapers, Petersfield Post and Petersfield Herald. Delta FM is the local radio station and has been transmitting to Petersfield since 2003 after many years of campaigning. In 2008 a new forum was opened. The Petersfield Forum
[edit] Commerce, business, industry
Main employment is in shops and offices in the town centre and farms in nearby villages, while there are many commuters to London and Portsmouth. Light industry tends to be concentrated in the Bedford Road estate on the west side of Petersfield. In 2007, the norwegian owned oil-supply giant Aibel Ltd added an engineering office in addition to their UK headoffice in Petersfield.
The Henry Willis organ factory has been pulled down and all production moved to Liverpool. The Estee Lauder (cosmetics company) is situated here. Compassion in World Farming moved to nearby Godalming in 2007.
[edit] Geography
Petersfield is situated in the valley of the Western Rother, on the Lower Greensand at the northern edge of the South Downs. The town lies at the western end of the Greensand Ridge, a sandstone ridge running through Hampshire, Surrey and Kent.
The town is surrounded on all sides by farmed countryside, with the South Downs south of the town, the Hampshire Downs to the west, and forested hills (Durford Wood) to the north east.
Close to the town and situated on the South Downs is Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which incorporates Butser Hill (the highest point on the downs), and has a wide variety of scenery from chalk hills to pine forest. The Hangers Way footpath runs from the country park, through Petersfield and on to Alton.
On the south east side of the town is Petersfield Heath, 95 acres of heathland including woodland, a pond, and a picnic and recreation area suitable for children. [5]. Heathland is very rare throughout Europe and the Petersfield Heath is a mosaic of many micro habitats. Petersfield Heath is registered as a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (a SINC). It also contains 21 Bronze Age barrows which together provide the site with Scheduled Ancient Monument status. These burial mounds may be up to 4000 years old, their distribution is concentrated around the Heath pond and considered to be one of the most important lowland barrow groups in this country. The Barrows indicate that the area of the Heath was occupied by people who may have come to regard this area as sacred to their religion. No trace has so far been found of any possible places where they may have lived in this area.[6]
Petersfield Heath is at the western end of "The Serpent Trail", a 65 mile walk though heath and downland of Hampshire and West Sussex to Haslemere.[7]
[edit] Weather and climate
Being situated in a dip, with the South Downs to the south and The Hangers to the north, the weather in Petersfield can be quite different from the weather across the South Downs on the coast. In particular, there tends to be more fog than on the other side.
[edit] References
- ^ Parish Headcounts, Area: Petersfield CP. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics (2001). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ National Park awaiting confirmation - the South Downs. Natural England. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ Prayer Impact: The PACT Churches
- ^ Petersfield twinning info
- ^ Looking after the Heath. Friends of Petersfield Heath. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
- ^ Archaeology of Petersfield & Surrounds
- ^ Serpent trail. West Sussex County Council (2006-08-14). Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
[edit] External links
- The Petersfield Forum
- East Hampshire District Council
- myPetersfield
- Petersfield Tomorrow
- Petersfield Youth Theatre
- Petersfield Area Churches Together
